I'm home from tour and excited to announce a super cool development that happened after playing Moccasin Creek Festival down in Effingham, IL. Kaycie, one of the the Hatha Sisters Podcast hosts sent me a note with all kind of cool positivity and interest in using one of Bandit's Queen's song as the intro theme song to their podcast. With prolonged email responses only tour can produce, we got it allll sorted out. Check it out, have a listen! https://soundcloud.com/hathasisters/minisodeone

This year was full of festival debuts and I'm thrilled to make my Come Together debut this weekend and hang with friends old and new. Lots of great music to see / hear, including Hamilton-originating friends Deeps, Robin Benedict, Will Ross, and Blind Mule. See you there!

My dear friend Richard Garvey, who's organized countless shows and tours put this show together. Come to this show. It'll be one that celebrates Vic Horvath, who passed recently, and Richard was going to be on tour with and was also going to be a part of this show. Come be with people who are still here, and be in spirit with those who are not. It'll be fun. Promise.

It seems the whole continent is in turmoil. The populous doesn't know what to make of pipelines, politicians, or p's and q's. Strange days it seems, and perhaps a perfect (or a horrible) time to meet with the people. Depends on how you see things, I guess. Lots of festivals and indoor venues. House concerts too. Hopefully the fires won't be bad this year and close down the roads. Hard lessons, experiential wisdoms, and some good time gathering. That's what I'm hoping for and bringing along with me. And if you're lucky enough to live in Canada, lead guitar extraordinaire, Peter Horvat, is on the summertime bill. See you soon! (and shows being added)

Be a fly on the wall as Ric Taylor and I talk about my Jack Richardson London Music Award, Cambridge Analytica and why all that is about more than just personal data, songs, intellectual property, and how I have trouble thinking four steps ahead.

With remarkably talented guitar virtuoso Peter Horvat, I'll be playing in one of my favourite cities, Vienna, AT. This city is 3D in everyway. Palaces, classical music and stunning architecture are in bountiful supply, but hidden in this cities corners and crannies are surprises of the not so obvious variety. Love spending time in this city and seeing/hearing/tasting/meeting its shadows and bountiful delights.

I met Bet Smith a few years ago and got to see her play at the Moonshine Cafe when I was organizing Songbirds, a really cool lady songwriter showcase that's still happening via some excellent organizing in Oakville. It's been a while since Bet and I got to do a show together, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of this EP release. If you're in the neighborhood, come on over!

Sawdust City Brewery, Gravenhurst, ON, 8PM. Email if more information is required!

I'm fascinated by cliches. They're an interesting phenomenon. Part truth, part fiction, but so wholly familiar they get taken for granted and employed in a multitude of misappropriated ways. "You gotta sell yourself' is one of the latest cliches I've been fascinated by.

Taking a look at this one, apparently, the market won't value you if you aren't saleable. Gah. Horrible stuff to be imparting as shared colloquial wisdom. As matter of fact. If you spend enough time feeling like your only value is determined by the marketplace, pretty soon you get a sense, conscious or not, that dancing bears and various forms of self- and other- objectification are on the horizon.

And the thing is: what about people who very literally sell them selves? Some versions of selling ones self are more dignity losing than others, but isn't it all slightly chipping away at something that we're supposed to inherently be, regardless of market value? Those who can't sell themselves, or don't sell themselves enough aren't worth anything apparently. Those who are better able to sell, are worth more. But are they really? Infants sell youth, charisma, beauty, and possibility - regardless of their general life ineptitude. Old people are the knowledge and wisdom keepers, but if the wisdom we value points to selling and not to knowledge and experience, then we're back where we started. Who started this anyway?? I'd hypothesize it was probably a merchant who saw great power in markets and money. And that's probably vastly different than most folks who throw this little pearl around.

Last year while on tour in Germany I played this cool show that was actually a science show. Eight scientists all gathered in Berlin to present their work to a general audience, in one of Berlin's coolest and sweetest sounding clubs, Lido......

So on this really cold day in January, we filmed this hot rendition of Fee Fi Fo Fum at the Botanical Gardens in Munich. And at Sophiastrasse (Sophia = Wisdom). Thanks so much to MunichSessions for suggesting the adventure and for making such a cool video (very, very literally) happen.....

Well...last week was pretty awesome. It's been a couple days since Bandit Queen came out. I'm in Hamburg, having played at Kultucafe Komm Du last night to a truly amazing audience. Sideplayer extraordinaire, Peter Horvat, and I had a great time and made friends with some really wonderful people. Last week, I got the news that Bandit Queen was at the #1 spot on the Folk Roots Charts and had climbed nationally from #33 to 20. Really spectacular that she's getting great attention. And then, the thing we've all been waiting for, Bandit Queen, went live on the internet and made Mother Church Pew's Album Playlist, right along side with Rose Cousin's new album, and where they add " The album takes us on an imaginative journey where Beatty relays the kinds of stories in her sassy style that rarely get told about women. It’s an adventure worth taking." Which is spectacular! Admittedly, I'm finding it difficult to stay on top of the administration of things, but fortunately, there is momentum for this record, and I'm tre-pleased about it. Have a listen. The old gal is up on iTunes and Spotify.

I've been on tour in Europe since December. Keeping on top of emails seems a strange horse to wrangle on the best of days, but January has been a particularly feisty bucking bronco. Nonetheless, with great pleasure, I've kept a watchful eye and steady pulse my keyboard ... read more

Thanks to #Nancy O's, #RollaPub #MOMfestival, #Cornstock, and #PenYBrynFarm we had a bonafide blast during last week's shows. Hard to imagine we're in Canmore, AB today. We play @Goodearthhq with @coachrejean and @thewoodnotes tonight! Swing by for folk music funtimes @townofcanmore @canmorefolkfestival @canmoreartsandevents @experiencecanmore #summertour2018